To celebrate National Walking Month, we are running short Tuesday after-work and Friday lunchtime walks every week in May in conjunction with the City of London and Living Streets, to highlight the Hidden City.

The lunchtime walks are all on Fridays and run from 1pm to 1.30pm starting and ending at the corner of Bucklersbury and Walbrook, outside the Bloomberg Building (Bank Exit 8).

The Tuesday evening walks start at 5.45pm from different locations.

The City of London is a great place for walking with narrow alleys, high level walkways and quiet backstreets connecting quiet gardens, world heritage buildings, modern architectural gems and The Thames Path.

The remaining Friday lunchtime walks are:

Friday 18 May - 1pm - meet corner of Bucklersbury and Walbrook, outside the Bloomberg Building (Bank Exit 8) to explore The Thames Path to London Bridge and local alleyways for half an hour. Circular walk. (leader Clare).

Friday 25 May - 1pm - meet corner of Bucklersbury and Walbrook, outside the Bloomberg Building (Bank Exit 8) to walk towards Barbican and take in some of the high-level walkways for half an hour. Circular walk. (leader Clare).

The remaining Tuesday after-work walks are:

Tuesday 15 May - 5.45pm - meet at Bishopsgate entrance to St Botolph's without Bishopsgate (EC2M 3TL) near Liverpool Street station to explore the secret east of the City for 45 minutes. Circular walk. (leader Des).

Ramblers General Council (our national AGM) is this weekend (7th-8th April) in Bangor, Wales. As usual, Inner London Area is well represented.

Since since Inner London Area makes up more than 4% of the national membership (we are the second largest area by membership), we have three delegates - Caroline, Dick and Phil, who were elected at our Area AGM in February. We're joined by two observers, Michelle and Alistair.

We'll be joining other Inner London members currently active nationally level; trustees Alex (also national Treasurer), Des (outgoing Chair), Sophie, and Teri; and Agenda Committee member Clare.

At General Council, we'll be talking about how the Ramblers can better serve urban communities and how to grow the organisation's membership. We're already the largest campaigning organisation for walkers, nationally and in London, but members are our lifeblood.

We'll also be saying goodbye to Alex and Des from their current roles and electing their successors, and catching up with what our friends and colleagues across the country are up to.

The Ramblers in Inner London welcomes the publication of the Mayor's transport strategy, which is available here.

Ramblers was one of 476 stakeholders who responded to the draft strategy consultation - there were also 6,110 responses from members of the public, doubtless including many of our members. Respondees were broadly supportive of the Healthy Streets approach and for the central aim for 80% of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041.

We are particularly pleased to see that the published strategy includes, under Proposal 4, "The Mayor, through TfL and the boroughs, and working with other stakeholders, will protect, improve and promote the Walk London network and create new leisure walking routes" and we look forward to working with the Mayor's team to achieve this.

TfL this week released the results of the consultation into a new river crossing between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf. 85% of respondees favoured a navigable bridge, with the northern alignment linking Rotherhithe to Westferry Circus receiving the strongest support of the three options.

Ramblers in Inner London Area was one of 47 stakeholders who responded to TfL's consultation - and doubtless many of our members were among the 6,094 individual responses.

TfL is now analysing the reponses and carrying out further development work on the project - and will publish their response to issues raised in the summer, along with a further update on the project.

Do you live or work in the City of London, or regularly walk through it? If so, please help us to improve walking in the City by having your say in this quick survey. The survey closes on April 3rd.

There's also a series of drop-in sessions which people who walk in the City can attend to share their views on how improvements can be made to walking. They run from late February through March at different locations handy for those who work in the City.

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